The Woodbridge Company

The Woodbridge Company Limited is a privately held Canadian holding and investment company based in Toronto, Ontario. It functions primarily as the investment vehicle for members of the Thomson family, whose business interests originated in the media assets assembled by Roy Thomson and later expanded through successive generations. Rather than operating as a consumer-facing brand, Woodbridge is best understood as an ownership, governance, and capital-allocation organization. Its activities are expressed through strategic stakes in operating companies, particularly businesses connected with media, information, technology, and related services. Woodbridge is the principal and controlling shareholder of Thomson Reuters, the global information-services company formed in 2008 when the Thomson Corporation acquired Reuters. Through this relationship, Woodbridge has remained closely associated with one of the world’s largest providers of professional information and workflow products for legal, tax, accounting, financial, risk, government, and media users. Thomson Reuters is a separately operated public company; Woodbridge’s role is that of a major shareholder and long-term family investment vehicle rather than day-to-day operating manager. The company has also held important Canadian media investments. Woodbridge was an owner of CTVglobemedia, the Canadian media company that included the CTV television network, before selling its 40 percent interest to BCE in late 2010. It also held an 85 percent interest in The Globe and Mail and acquired BCE’s remaining 15 percent stake in August 2015, making the Thomson family the newspaper’s sole owner through Woodbridge. These transactions illustrate the company’s approach of concentrating ownership in selected strategic assets while adjusting its portfolio when a different ownership structure is considered more appropriate. Woodbridge’s ownership is private and distributed among members of the Thomson family. David Thomson and Peter Thomson became chairmen in 2006 after the death of their father, Kenneth Thomson. David W. Binet served as president and chief executive officer from 2012 through 2024, and Jay Forbes became president and chief executive officer in September 2024. The company’s private structure gives it a long-term investment horizon and allows family shareholders to retain influence over major holdings without the disclosure and trading characteristics of a listed holding company. The company’s public identity is therefore less about products sold under the Woodbridge name and more about stewardship of a diversified family-owned portfolio. Its best-known associated assets are Thomson Reuters and The Globe and Mail, while its historical portfolio has also included broadcast and other media interests. Publicly available descriptions emphasize ownership, governance, and investment activity rather than a detailed standalone operating business. Woodbridge remains active, but information about its private-company finances, internal organization, and complete investment portfolio is limited.

The Woodbridge Company is the private investment organization associated with the Thomson family of Canada. Its role developed from the family’s long-standing ownership of media and information businesses, first built by Roy Thomson and continued by later generations. Woodbridge is not principally a trading or consumer brand. Instead, it provides a corporate structure through which family members hold, govern, and manage major investments. The company’s most important modern holding is Thomson Reuters. The Thomson Corporation acquired Reuters in 2008, creating Thomson Reuters and combining Thomson’s professional information businesses with Reuters’ international news and financial-information operations. Woodbridge became the principal and controlling shareholder of the combined company. Thomson Reuters operates independently as a global public corporation, while Woodbridge’s connection is primarily through ownership and shareholder governance. Woodbridge has also been a significant participant in Canadian newspaper and broadcasting businesses. It held an 85 percent interest in The Globe and Mail before purchasing BCE’s remaining 15 percent in August 2015. That transaction placed the newspaper entirely under Thomson family ownership through Woodbridge. Earlier, Woodbridge held a 40 percent interest in CTVglobemedia, a Canadian media company whose assets included the CTV television network. In late 2010, Woodbridge sold that interest to BCE. The sale marked a withdrawal from that particular broadcasting investment while leaving the family with important interests in other media and information assets. The governance of Woodbridge reflects its status as a family holding company. David Thomson and Peter Thomson became chairmen in 2006 following the death of their father, Kenneth Thomson. David W. Binet led the company as president and chief executive officer from 2012 to 2024. In September 2024, Jay Forbes took over as president and chief executive officer. Public reporting has identified multiple Thomson family shareholders, and the company’s private status means that detailed ownership percentages and financial statements are not generally available in the manner expected of a listed corporation. Over time, Woodbridge’s portfolio has been characterized by concentrated, long-duration holdings rather than a large number of publicly promoted brands. Its best-known interests are linked to professional information services and Canadian news media. The company’s ownership model allows the Thomson family to maintain influence over strategic assets while permitting those assets to operate as separate companies with their own management teams, brands, employees, and public-market obligations. Woodbridge therefore occupies a distinctive position in the Canadian business landscape. It is both a family office-like investment vehicle and a controlling shareholder in internationally significant information businesses. Its public importance comes mainly from the companies it owns or has owned, particularly Thomson Reuters and The Globe and Mail, rather than from products marketed under the Woodbridge name. Because it is privately held, public sources provide only a partial picture of its full portfolio, internal decision-making, and financial performance.

• 2024

  Jay Forbes appointed chief executive

  [1]The Woodbridge Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Jay Forbes became president and chief executive officer in September 2024, succeeding David W. Binet.

• 2015

  Full ownership of The Globe and Mail

  [1]The Woodbridge Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Woodbridge acquired BCE's remaining 15 percent interest in The Globe and Mail in August 2015.

• 2010

  Sale of CTVglobemedia interest

  [1]The Woodbridge Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Woodbridge sold its 40 percent stake in CTVglobemedia to BCE in late 2010.

• 2008

  Thomson Reuters is formed

  [1]The Woodbridge Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The Thomson Corporation acquired Reuters, creating Thomson Reuters and making the combined company Woodbridge's principal controlled investment.

• 2006

  David and Peter Thomson become chairmen

  [1]The Woodbridge Companyen.wikipedia.org

  David Thomson and Peter Thomson became chairmen of Woodbridge following the death of their father, Kenneth Thomson.

Private, long-term family investment holding company

• Professional information services · 2008

  Thomson Reuters

  Thomson Reuters is Woodbridge's principal controlled investment. The operating company provides professional information, software, workflow tools, and news-related services for legal, tax, accounting, financial, risk, government, and media users. It was created in 2008 through the combination of the Thomson Corporation and Reuters. Thomson Reuters is a separate public company whose products and operations are not marketed under the Woodbridge name.

• Newspaper and digital media

  The Globe and Mail

  The Globe and Mail is a Canadian national newspaper and digital news organization held through the Thomson family investment structure. Woodbridge owned 85 percent before acquiring BCE's remaining 15 percent in 2015. The publication operates as an independent media business rather than as a consumer product branded Woodbridge.

• Broadcast and media holding

  CTVglobemedia

  CTVglobemedia was a Canadian media company in which Woodbridge held a 40 percent interest. Its assets included the CTV television network. Woodbridge exited this investment by selling its stake to BCE in late 2010, so it is a historical portfolio holding rather than a current Woodbridge offering.

• 2015

  Acquisition of BCE's remaining Globe and Mail stakeM&A

  Background

  Woodbridge already held 85 percent of The Globe and Mail, with BCE retaining the remaining 15 percent.

  Action taken

  Woodbridge acquired BCE's remaining stake in August 2015.

  Aftermath

  The Thomson family obtained full ownership of The Globe and Mail through Woodbridge.

  Source

• 2010

  Exit from CTVglobemediaM&A

  Background

  Woodbridge held a substantial minority interest in CTVglobemedia, a Canadian media company that included the CTV television network.

  Action taken

  Woodbridge sold its 40 percent interest to BCE in late 2010.

  Aftermath

  BCE became the sole owner of the interest previously held by Woodbridge, while Woodbridge reduced its exposure to Canadian broadcast media.

  Source

• 2008

  Support for the creation of Thomson ReutersM&A

  Background

  The Thomson Corporation pursued the acquisition of Reuters to combine professional information services with Reuters' global news and financial-information operations.

  Action taken

  The acquisition was completed, creating Thomson Reuters, with Woodbridge serving as the principal and controlling shareholder.

  Aftermath

  The transaction established Thomson Reuters as Woodbridge's most important publicly visible investment and expanded the family's international information-services exposure.

  Source

1. 1The Woodbridge Companyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2The Woodbridge Company official websitewoodbridgecompany.com